Aubrey de Grey wrote in message <8i7utv$md1$1 at pegasus.csx.cam.ac.uk>...
>>Lou Pagnucco wrote:
>>> Telomerase May Protect Nerve Cells from Brain Disorders
>>Very interesting, potentially. The well-established acceleration of
>telomere shortening by oxidative stress in vitro (von Zglinicki's
>work, among others) certainly suggests that telomerase should slow
>telomere shortening in highly-stressed postmitotic cells as well as
>in rapidly-dividing ones. Mattson's earlier work found an anti-
>apoptotic role for telomerase in cancer cells (J. Biol. Chem. 274:
>7264); similar reports exist from other groups.
>>However...
>
Another thought just struck me, Aubrey.
Shouldn't this paper's hypothesis be easily testable with the
new cloned sheep/goats which have long telomeres?
Wouldn't it be relatively easy to extract some neural or muscle
cells from them and challenge them (in vitro) with apoptosis
inducing stimuli? If they proved to be resistant to these insults,
then we would have some very interesting results, no?
Cheers,
Lou Pagnucco